


Tell Me Again

by teachamantokaboom



Category: The West Wing
Genre: 17 People, F/M, First Kiss, Office
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-11
Updated: 2021-02-11
Packaged: 2021-03-17 13:40:01
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 917
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29351319
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/teachamantokaboom/pseuds/teachamantokaboom
Summary: "Tell me again what you'd do.""I wouldn't stop... for anything."
Relationships: Josh Lyman & Donna Moss, Josh Lyman/Donna Moss
Comments: 20
Kudos: 99





	Tell Me Again

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first-ever fanfic, born of frustration after rewatching 17 People and thinking how deeply intimate Josh and Donna's whole interaction is that episode, and how absurd it is that Donna lays all her cards on the table, and Josh just lets her walk away.  
> Sorkin once said in an interview if he could do the show over again, he thought the natural place to put them together would have been in season 2, and I couldn't agree more.
> 
> *I make no claim to these characters or the intellectual property of Warner Bros., this is purely a creative fair use exercise for which I receive no compensation except personal satisfaction, and even that is minimal.

He grabs her arm as she brushes past him walking out the door.

"Donna…" he half-whispers. 

They're standing so close in his doorway, the binder in his arms the only space between them. She'd felt so casually confident a moment ago, the true story of her return finally out in the open. But now with his hand holding her in place, she feels caught, guilty, realizing the full weight of what she just said. 

"Tell me again," he whispers, leaning in. "Tell me again what you'd do." 

His breath hot on her neck, she stutters on an inhale, "I… I wouldn't stop." 

"Yeah…" He husks, brushing the hair back from her shoulder. 

"For anything," and she breathes out a small "oh" as Josh's lips make contact just below her ear. 

Her head rolls back instinctively to give him more space, and he takes it as an invitation, walking her back inside the office, kicking the door shut, his lips barely breaking contact with her skin. He drops the binder and brings his newly freed hand up to cup her face and pulls back to look her in the eye. 

She's breathing heavily, and Josh can't tell if it's excitement or panic or both. Did he just massively fuck up? Shit, now _he's_ panicking. What was he thinking? Searching for the answer in her face, he stammers, "Donna, I…" 

But she reaches up with both hands to pull him in for their first real kiss before he can finish the thought. It's immediately intense, three years of pent-up energy set loose as their hands grab at shirts and hair and anything they can find. 

Josh has backed her against his desk and she sits up on the edge, allowing him to fit between her legs, his erection gently rubbing against her in rhythm. He pushes the shoulder of her cardigan back and finally removes his mouth from hers only to immediately press it back to her neck, her collarbone, any piece of exposed skin available. His hand rubs the smooth arc of her shoulder, and she moans his name. 

He breaks contact with her neck with a moan of his own and leans his temple against hers. "I've wanted to hear you say my name like that for so long." 

"Same," she pants. 

"Donna…" he mimics her tone. 

"Mmm" she responds, pleased, then chuckles a bit in spite of herself and shifts so their foreheads are pressing together. "What are we doing?" she asks in the most neutral tone she can muster. 

"I don't know. If I'd planned this, we definitely wouldn't be in the office." And he ruts against her again to prove his point, eliciting another small "oh". 

She pulls back enough to look him in the eye and strokes his cheek with one hand. "We should probably talk… When there's not a room full of people waiting for us." 

"Yeah," he exhales, "yeah, we should probably, um… yeah." 

She moves her hand from his cheek to pat him on the chest. "Well said." And she pushes him lightly backward so she has space to slide off the desk. She leans in to kiss him again, pulling away after a moment and relishing watching how soft his face is in the moment before his eyes slowly open to meet hers. 

"We should get back to the others. Write a few jokes, maybe just wholesale steal an Edgar Bergen routine, and then we can..." she trails off, torn between "talk" and "pick up where we left off." 

"I don't have much faith in the President's ventriloquism skills, but otherwise yeah, that sounds good. I just need a minute to uh…" he nods his head downward, not needing to finish the thought. 

Donna can't help but laugh, the absurdity of the situation suddenly catching up to her; she leans forward and butts her forehead into Josh's chest, gently shaking, her hands gripping the waist of his sweater, feeling the deep rise and fall of his abs as he tries to regain control of his breathing. Not ten minutes ago they were eating Chinese food and arguing about flowers - what a weird night this has turned out to be. 

"You're not helping," Josh deadpans. 

"Sorry, it's just… weird." she says, beginning to straighten back up, calmly running her fingers through her hair, thumbing around her lips for any stray gloss. 

"You're telling me. But weird okay, right? You're okay?" He asks, rubbing small, self-conscious circles over her hip with his thumb. 

"Yeah. Very. Definitely." She wipes a bit of lip gloss off his mouth as well, lingering over his bottom lip. "We'll go to your place and talk." 

She scans the office quickly, taking note of its disheveled state and hoping she doesn't look the same. "I'm gonna head back to the Roosevelt Room, maybe you can tidy up the binders while you're… cooling off." She loses her train of thought for a split second, biting the edge of her lip and staring at Josh's pants. 

"Again I say, you're not helping." 

"Sorry, I just…" and she leans in one more time to give him a slow, soft kiss. 

"Sorry. Okay. Going now." She smooths her clothes one more time and takes a deep breath before opening the door and walking out into the empty bullpen. 

All Josh can do is lean back against his desk, roughly rubbing his already disheveled hair with one hand. 

"So I guess this is a thing that's happening." 

And starts picking up binders. 

**Author's Note:**

> Feedback welcome. Like I said, this is my first fic.  
> I might drop it forever, or I might keep going, who knows.


End file.
